Talents for Perfect and Near Perfect Defenses [Hackmaster]

Hackmaster provides for three instances where someone will receive a free attack: When your opponent rolls a natural 1 for defense (and still fails), when the defender rolls a natural 20 for defense and succeeds at defending, or when the defender rolls a 19 (18-19 for thieves) for defense and their defense rolls succeeds.

Several of these Talents mention “Condition”; these are distinct from prerequisites, as they are things that must be true at the moment of use for the talent to apply; you can learn the talent without the Condition, but you can’t use it. For example, a thief who is a Defensive Opportunist might gain this ability with a dagger, as they have a +2 Defense specialization with the dagger. If forced to defend themselves with a club, with which they are not specialized, they would not receive the enhancement to Near-Perfect defense. Notably, these talents do not apply only to individual weapons; if the thief subsequently got a +1 defense with the club, they could use a club without needing to buy the talent again.

NOTE: I am still fine-tuning the costs of these talents. 10 BP is just a placeholder.


Barroom Hero (10 BP)
Prerequisite: +1 Specialization in Unarmed Combat
When taking a Near-Perfect Defense, the character may use the unarmed maneuvers Strike, Overbear, Bull Rush, Tackle, Toss/Take Down, Grab, Hold, or Shield Bash instead of simply doing 2(d4p-2) damage. This will expose the character to the consequences of that maneuver, should it fail.


Defensive Opportunist (10 BP)
Condition: Minimum +1 Defense specialization with current weapon
The character is adept at taking advantage of openings. The range at which they receive a near-perfect defense is increased by 1; most characters will receive an NPD on a successful defense where the die is 18-19, while thieves will receive a Near-Perfect Defense on a 17-19.


Follow Through (10 BP)
Condition: Minimum +1 to hit and damage, and -1 to speed specialization in currently wielded weapon.
If a defender rolls a natural 1 on defense, but falls (either to death or failed trauma check) to the current attack, the character may instead use their follow-up attack on an enemy within reach. Unlike a normal follow-up attack, this will reset the character’s count. The attacker still has the option to use their follow-up attack against the fallen target, without resetting their count.


Opportunist (10 BP)
Condition: Minimum -1 speed specialization with the wielded weapon or unarmed combat
When the character receives a free attack from a Critical Fumble on defense, the free attack is taken in that second, not the second after. A character may learn this talent at any point, but cannot use it unless they have at least a -1 speed specialization in whichever weapon they are using at the time.


Swift Recovery (10 BP)
After a critical failure on defense, or when their opponent scores a Perfect or Near-Perfect Defense, the character defends against the follow-up attack at +2.